Meeting The Communication Challenge

Abstract

For the most part, account-based pension plans are not traditional long-service retirement plans. They are "when your service ends" plans, whether the employee leaves to retire or start a new job or vocation, and they are much like savings plans. They are also a new approach to helping employ-ees understand and accumulate their financial resources. Easier to explain to employees than more traditional pension plans, account-based plans still present stumbling blocks in terms of how to successfully introduce them to your orga-nization. Why the new plan is being introduced and what it is intended to do and not to do are the toughest and most important communication challenges that need to be met. Key communica-tion elements include proper naming of the bene-fit (don't call it a retirement plan) and demonstrating your organization's intended people strategy.